Your Tax Refund: It’S Refund Home to the World’S Greatest in Cash When Airport Shopping1
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KEEP IT SAFE Keep this leaflet and storage wallet safe You’ll find it useful when you return to Heathrow to reclaim your tax Your tax Heathrow is a great place to claim your tax refund: it’s refund home to the world’s greatest in cash when airport shopping1. you fly home* 1 World’s Best Airport for Shopping – Skytrax World Airport Awards – Eight years in a row (as of 2017) *To qualify for a tax refund, you’ll need to have your goods and paperwork with you, and you must fulfil all the criteria of the VAT Retail Export Scheme, details of which can be found at: Best Airport for Tax-free Shopping – https://tinyurl.com/gsf99nj voted by readers of Business Traveller Cash refunds not applicable to all tax refund forms or in all cases (see page 14 for full list of exceptions). magazine – eight years in a row Charges apply. Promoter: Travelex UK Limited. For Travelex’s full terms and conditions, see page 14. (as of 2016). This service is operated by Travelex UK Limited This service is operated by Travelex UK Limited © Heathrow Airport Limited 2017 Correct at time of printing March 2017 TRI v1 0317 Tax refunds for Can I claim non-EU residents a tax refund? End your European shopping trip with a cash refund1 at Heathrow. It’s your money – claim it in cash1 The UK tax authorities set the Yes Yes Yes when you fly home rules for tax refunds The European tax system is good for overseas Tax-free shopping is officially known as the VAT visitors. If you live outside the European Union Retail Export Scheme. To qualify, you have to fulfil If you’re a non- But only for (EU) and meet certain criteria, you can reclaim all the criteria set by the UK tax authorities2. In this So long as you the tax on much of your shopping2. leaflet we explain what you need to do to finish EU resident certain goods don’t stay in the your trip with extra cash1 to spend. We’re Travelex, the independent refund To claim a tax refund, The goods you buy must be EU for too long you must live outside for personal use. Services operator trading at Heathrow, and we’re Are sales tax and VAT You must take your goods the European Union such as hotel bills and rail authorised by the UK tax authorities to process out of the EU by the last 1 the same thing? (EU). That means: tickets don’t apply. And the your tax refund, and to pay it back in cash – day of the third month 3 scheme doesn’t apply to all in pounds sterling or your own home currency . Yes, UK and European sales tax is known • You normally live after the one in which goods. See Travelex’s terms A cash refund is yours to keep, even if we as Value Added Tax. Everyone calls it VAT. outside the EU or you bought them. For and conditions on page 14. subsequently discover that we’ve made example, if you bought 4 • You’re leaving the EU an error . goods during January, and won’t be back you must take them out for at least a year. Save time and claim your refund of the EU by 30 April. just before you fly home The simplest way to reclaim your tax is to do it just before you fly home at the end of your trip. Although you can apply for your tax refund from operators not based at Heathrow, you will still need to get your forms stamped by Travelex or (for high-value goods) customs (UK Border Force) on the day you leave the EU. Save time by getting your forms stamped and your refund IN CASH1 through Travelex at Heathrow just before you leave the EU. And don’t 1 Cash refunds not applicable to all tax refund forms or in all cases (see page 14 for full list of exceptions). forget that we can also process a single tax refund Charges apply. For Travelex’s full terms and conditions, for all applicable goods you buy anywhere within see page 14. the EU2. 2 For details of the scheme, see: https://tinyurl.com/gsf99nj 3 Applies to most currencies. Travelex keeps most popular currencies in stock. 4 Fraudulent claims excepted. 2 3 What do I do when I’m shopping? You must be there in person Keep your tax refund form and Where can I shop? Shopping online or by mail order doesn’t count. your receipt You have to be in the shop at the time of Don’t lose your paperwork. Tuck your tax refund Look for shops with a ‘Tax-free purchase, but you don’t have to be the person forms and store receipts into the wallet on shopping’ sign in the window who pays. Show your passport or national ID the back page of this leaflet. You’ll need them card, and tell the retailer that you want to shop when you reclaim your tax. To claim a tax refund you have to do your tax-free. shopping in stores that are part of the VAT Not all tax refund forms qualify Retail Export Scheme – shops that display Ask about fees for a refund in cash the ‘Tax-free shopping’ sign. Goods you buy Fees apply when you reclaim your VAT. Fees vary elsewhere will not qualify for a tax refund. The version of the VAT407 form that your retailer depending on which retailer you buy from, which gives you depends on which refund operator they refund operator they use and where you make Anywhere in Europe work with. If the store’s refund operator is not also your VAT refund claim. The best time to find out one of our partners1, we will be unable to give You can reclaim VAT on tax-free shopping you do about fees is when you go shopping. Ask instore you a refund in cash. Instead we‘ll refund your in any country that’s a member of the EU. When before you buy. you fly home from Heathrow, you can claim it all credit card or mail your refund forms back to the back in one go. Get the retailer to sign your tax retailer to process your refund. refund form When you’re in the store, ask the retailer if its refund operator offers refunds in cash. Read the The retailer will give you a tax refund form refund operator’s terms and conditions governing (officially known as VAT407), which must be tax-free shopping in that store. validly completed, and which you and they must both sign and date. Your tax refund form is invalid without both signatures. 1 Travelex’s five refund partners are Global Blue, Premier Tax Free, GB Tax Free, Innova Tax Free and UK Tax Free. 4 5 What’s the best way to prepare for my tax refund claim? 1 2 Sort your shopping Gather your paperwork To reclaim tax on your shopping, into two groups you need three sets of supporting documents: Bulky goods High-value items Store receipts – the Signed and properly Proof that you are taking originals provided by completed tax refund your goods out of the EU Put bulky goods that travel in the aircraft Put high-value items that travel in your the retailer. forms – complete yours – your airline ticket and hold in one pile. hand luggage (jewellery, watches and in full before you leave your passport. electrical items) in another pile. for Heathrow. Pack the two sets of shopping separately, but make sure you can get to them easily. Forms not completed correctly or incomplete will add time to your journey so please ensure Travelex and Customs / Border Force will ask to see the goods when you submit your tax to complete the forms. refund claim. You won’t get a refund if you can’t prove that you have the goods with you. If you’re not sure which goods qualify as high value, you can ask at the Travelex desk when you reach Heathrow. 6 7 What do I do at the airport? Give yourself plenty of time Follow the signs to claim Not sure where to go or what Allow extra time for your tax refund at your tax refund to do? Heathrow. Our average tax refund waiting We have reclaim desks in every terminal, If you don’t know which way to go, just ask one time is 30 minutes, but it can take longer at before and after security. Just follow the of Heathrow’s purple-uniformed multilingual peak times or if you’re part of a tour group ‘VAT refunds’ signs. Passenger Ambassadors. or in the queue behind a tour group. The earlier you arrive at Heathrow, the better. Bulky goods – reclaim the tax before you And if you’re not sure which goods qualify Completing all your forms before you get check in: This is for reclaiming the tax on items as high value, ask at the Travelex desk. Ask to Heathrow should speed things up too. that travel in your hold baggage. before you check in. You can’t reclaim tax on shopping that’s entered the Heathrow High-value goods – reclaim the tax after baggage system. you’ve passed through security: This is for reclaiming the tax on the jewellery, watches and electrical items that travel in your hand luggage. For further information visit www.heathrow.com/vat 9 Plenty of help from a friendly, multilingual team Can’t find the tax-refund desk? Ask a Passenger Ambassador – When you submit your tax refund claim, we’re they’ll show you the way.